Company of the Nearly Dead Brothers
by Kikasu Utagoe
Summary: Scout had gotten pretty familiar with his team, and treats them like his brothers. But upcoming is suicide mission which Scout is afraid will separate them forever. The RED team must cooperate to defeat their most powerful enemy yet... SAXTON HALE.
1. Chapter 1

Hey, everybody, it's been a _really_ long time since I've written a Fanfic, and recently I've become more-than-obsessed with Team Fortress 2, and especially the HaleMod. Anyways, I hope you guys will enjoy this, and just to make things clear, I am not Valve, therefore I do not own these characters. If I get at least one review I will immediately post the second (and final) chapter. :)

It was barely morning, and the sun had just started making its way across the azure sky. He had risen from his sleeping bag that morning knowing that this could very well be the last time he yawned, the last time he stretched, and the last time he'd be taking a morning leak. The gray color of his eye seemed much darker and more solemn today than it would usually, especially when he looked around and his gaze met the closed eyelids of his still-sleeping team. Tying his shoes and tucking his gray pants into his brand-new baseball socks, he couldn't help being emotional about what was bound to happen today.

Before his eyes were all the moments he'd spent with his RED team – especially that one game on Dustbowl where they'd all gotten medals for defending the dust-filled canyon without giving up a single point.

As if he were there again, he could just about hear Engineer yell out, "Job well done!" and Heavy splitting his beloved sandvich into nine pieces with his gigantic fingers. "We make good team!" the Russian had exclaimed, and everybody had agreed, even the seldom-visible Spy. Then they drunk and drunk, Demoman handing out bottles of Scotch to each and every one of the team members.

Scout chuckled to himself as he remembered the vague memories of the night of celebrations – Medic riding around on Soldier's back, pretending he was a _Deutsches pferd_; Heavy being jealous and in search of his Sasha, ripping the powerful sentry gun out of the very ground thinking it was his machine gun; and Sniper losing a bet and having to drink an explosive Jarate-'n'-Bonk cocktail. They were an excellent team, and they had fought hand in hand in many different environments with only one of the members ever being replaced – the Spy.

Their first Spy was actually one of Scout's closer friends, and Scout would always rush to the Spy with an ammo crate to keep him keep disguised in times of trouble. But the Frenchman had a fatal accident – while invisible, he had been set on fire and then blown away by an enemy Pyro's airblast, falling off the Orange X3 tower to his doom. And so the replacement Spy had arrived – a very quiet and mysterious man, but a teammate nonetheless.

Scout left the common room and leaned against the wooden doorway, looking out over the game area. Suddenly, he felt a tap on his shoulder, and he immediately waved his fists angrily at thin air, accepting a battle stance.

The new Spy de-cloaked and said quietly, "You should wake up 'ze rest of 'ze team. 'Ze game shall be beginning shortly." His masked face looked into the Scout's solemn, gray eyes and nodded with understanding. "Blood shall be spilled today, and 'ze enemy shall be the toughest man any of us have ever faced," he faltered slightly, but quickly regained his poker face, "fancy a cigar, Scout?"

"Nah thanks, I don't smoke," said the Scout, and had one last look at the walled-in arena before returning into the common room to wake up the others.

Minutes later, the entire team was up and preparing itself. They were all – with the exception of the Spy – sitting on the cold concrete, eating a small breakfast to give them the strength to fight. The Administrator issued the same, packed meal to be prepared for each one of them, but of course Heavy needed something more filling, and moaned with delight as he ate his favorite sandvich. "Balooooney!" he yelled out and Medic again complained about his high cholesterol intake. Demoman offered some of his Scrumpy to water down the protein-rich bacon-and-egg salad. Soldier was attempting to persuade Scout and Sniper to play a quick game of cards with him, but the two declined, and the Soldier grumpily stacked his deck of cards and pack of cigarettes onto the headband strapped to his faithful helmet.

Scout was wrapping his palms with bandage to prevent blistering from his guns and his Sandman. He then blurted out, because he couldn't hold it in him and said, "Hey, guys, yo. There's somethin' weird about the new Spy. He ain't like one of us. He ain't like the other Spy. I wish the old guy was still with us."

Engineer replied, "Well, he's definitely diff'rent, 'cause if he was the same, he wouldn't be new. Jus' a little philosophical thing to get you thinkin', Boston boy."

"Well, mates, I might just about agree with the thin lil' wanker. The new Spy sure is a

quiet 'n' weird bloke," Sniper said while poking his glasses back into place as they slid down his bony nose.

The others didn't say anything, because of how tense the atmosphere was, and how secretly scared all of them were about the upcoming game. Pyro mumbled something, and filled up his flamethrower with gas to the very brim of capacity. All the others had their weapons at the ready, and Engineer checked his toolbox to make sure he had everything he needed to build their defenses.

The Announcer's voice blared through the speaker in the corner of the room. "Mission begins in sixty seconds." They were all trembling with anticipation, and Medic was already healing them, one by one. "Where is _der Spion_?" asked Medic in his heavy accent. Nobody knew, not even Scout who'd seen him last. But he had to be _somewhere_ around here, he thought.

Finally, the countdown reached tenths, and the female voice started counting, "10, 9, 8, 7, 6…" and out of the corner of his eye, Scout noticed the Spy de-cloak – he'd been sitting in the common room all along, and he'd heard what Scout said about him. The baseballer swallowed nervously and gripped onto his Force-a-Nature like it was his own, dear life. Finally, the gate that had been separating them from the rest of the arena opened, and they all scrambled out. They had planned this the night before, drawing out the tactics with a piece of charcoal on the concrete floor. For now, they would all huddle together and form a defensive structure on the little wooden platform – all of them except Scout and the Spy, of course. The Spy followed the group onto the roof of the wooden building, grabbed some cloak ammunition from the nearby dispenser, and then sped off somewhere, fully invisible. Scout, on the other hand, dashed straight for the enemy base, readying his pistol to shoot at the fearsome man who was about to emerge. He could hear the beep of Engineer's sentry gun as he tweaked some wires inside and struck the whole structure with his wrench.

Finally, the doors hissed open and out _he_ came, in his hat, with ornamental crocodile teeth on it. _He_ pounded his chest, and all of its Australian-shaped hair. Scout opened fire, his pistol rapidly sending off bullets which fell right into the enemy's body. _He_ brushed himself off, as if the bullets were some child's rubber pellets. _He_ laughed, making the ground shake, and yelled – "You hippies better start sayin' yer prayers, 'cause I'm comin' for ya'. And my name – IS – SAXTON HAAAAAAAAAALE!"


	2. Chapter 2

Hey! You wanted it, and you got it! The final CHAPTER 2 is here! I wrote this entire story as a one-shot, except split it into two parts. I'm sorry if it's a bit confusing (and gory), and just to make things clear, Valve owns these characters and I most certainly don't XD

Scout dashed away from the aggressor, kicking up dirt as he sped through the arena. Breathing hard, he made for the center of the map. Back home, people called him the "sky-high fly", because of his incredible running speed and springy legs. But here, it was just Scout and his wits, and he needed a break to recuperate a little after sprinting so fast, so once he reached the control point, he jumped onto a stack of crates and then clambered onto the roof which shielded the control point.

His enemy wasn't far behind him, and soon the huge heap of muscle had reached the crates which Scout had just jumped onto. Saxton crouched and was about to utter his infamous "BRAVE JUMP!" and reach Scout and obliterate him using his bare hands. However, right before the Australian was able to propel his jump, Sniper had gotten a perfect aim at Hale's still head, and pulled his trigger. The bullet got him right in between the eyes, and Saxton roared with rage. He was making straight for the platform now, about to attack the entire assembly of the RED team.

Scout thought fast, inventing a way to protect his teammates by delaying the ruthless man's attack and give time for the Engineer to fully upgrade his machines. As Saxton approached the wooden house, the sentry gun bleeped and spotted the enemy, sending off scores of bullets which hit the man and slowed down his approach to the base. Saxton then decided to take the long way and go into the building and reach his RED enemies the long way. Scout was already running at him, approaching the unsuspecting killer from behind. While running full speed, he grabbed his Bonk! can and opened it, to be able to drink it immediately. He then jumped onto Saxton's shoulders and started hitting him with Scout's faithful Sandman bat. The Australian growled angrily and swung his powerful arm to punch the boy from Boston, but before he could, Scout had already drank up all of his Bonk! and had run away safely, leading Saxton right into their base.

Scout blurted out, "Incoming! Yo, incoming!" as he ran onto the roof of the small, wooden building. Demoman was holding his detonator, about to blow up Saxton with a dozen sticky bombs, Engineer supplied the fully-upgraded sentry with ammo, and Heavy spun up his Sasha, Medic calling out, "I am charged!". Scout replenished his health and ammo by the dispenser and jumped off the roof, ready to retaliate the sure-to-be-retreating Hale.

He ran back up the hill to the control point and watched the scene unfold from higher ground. Saxton had walked onto the flat roof and Demoman had detonated his bombs, sending the Australian flying into the air as the shrapnel stung his skin. The sentry then kicked in and started shooting Hale hitting him with dozens of rockets as the man was still suspended in mid-air. Heavy butted in and started shooting while laughing maniacally, "Mister Hale, CRY SOME MORE!" Hale seemed to be losing his strength, but gaining rage, and finally caught one of Soldier's rockets with his bare hands as if it were a football and hollered, "RARGH! SAXTON HAAAAAAAAAALE!"

He jumped gracefully back onto the roof and tore through the teams defenses as they cowered before his rage, before they could retreat. He ripped open the Pyro's fire-resistant mask and using Pyro's own flamethrower he burned his face right off. He then kicked Demoman in the privates and twisted his head off, yelling, "Not so good at decapitating now, are we, Scotsman!". He then punched the Sniper, sending his head flying, and then mopped the Jarate-soaked floor with the Sniper's dead body. Saxton then furiously tore apart the poor Engineer's sentry and kicked over the helpless dispenser. He roared and took off in pursuit of the RED team members who had escaped the encounter, and Scout ran off to help his teammates.

As he sprinted, he could see Pyro's death before his eyes, the poor pyromaniac so helpless, blinded by the sunlight which he'd have no exposure to in his dark suit, and his beloved gun being turned against him. And he sobbed qioetly at the Sniper's humiliation, and Demoman's ear-piercing howl as Hale shattered his entire crotch area with a single kick. The new Spy was right. This would be the toughest – and the last – enemy that they'd ever be dealing with.

As Scout reached the other side of the low, wooden building he saw a heart-shattering moment. Saxton Hale had found the slow-moving Heavy and Medic, who was healing him. Heavy opened fire and Medic ubercharged him, protecting them both from Saxton's vicious pounds. Saxton's body was pierced by the whizzing bullets coming from Sasha's muzzle like steaming spitlballs being shot from a roaring bear's mouth. But Hale endured the pain, and once the Medic screamed, "_Nein!_" as they turned back into vulnerable troopers, Saxton prepared to strike. Naturally, he'd go for the fat Russian first.

Just then, Medic jumped in front of Saxton's fist, drawing his Ubersaw, driving the weapon as far into the Australian's flesh as he could. Hale groaned with pain, but soon caught the Medic's arm and pulled the saw out of his wounded flesh.

"I'll take that, y'Nazi peace-lover!" Saxton roared as he snatched the Ubersaw from the terrified Medic and cut off the German's head, the saw going through the flesh like butter. While Saxton mutilated Medic's body in revenge for the saw-blow, Heavy dashed off, crying. Scout was merely standing there with his jaw wide open, a thick tear swimming down his face as the inseparable fighters, Heavy and Medic, were torn apart forever by Saxton Hale's barbaric bare arms. Scout wiped off the tear and stormed at the Australian, shooting him with his Force-a-Nature. He jumped back, avoiding the man's enormous hands. Scout had fought a Heavy in melee combat before, but this man was stronger than an ubercharged heavy and faster than a Pyro who'd just sniffed the gas out of his canister. Scout retreated to safety, searching for more teammates. He ran in the direction that the Heavy had crawled off to, and found him sobbing in a corner.

"C'mon, man," Scout grabbed Heavy's hand, "get up, ya fat, bald, Russian bastard! We've got a battle to win, a'ight?"

Heavy wiped his nose on his bare arm and looked straight into Scout's eyes, asking, "Scout, why Medic die? Why Medic put himself in front of Hale and die?"

"'Cause he loved ya, ya big dummy. Ain't there nothin' in that big head 'a' yours?"

"Medic… Medic love Heavy Weapons Guy?"

"Yeah, man. He cared 'bout ya more than my own ma' cared 'bout me when I was a kid back in Bos'on."

"Medic love me." Heavy stated, and repeated it a few more times incredulously.

Suddenly, they both looked up as they heard footsteps on the creaking, wooden floor. It was the Engineer, followed by Soldier.

Soldier laughed at Heavy, "You big sissy! We're fighting a battle here, ain't no time to be getting emotional!"

"But Medic love me!" His bright, blue, and clueless eyes shone and sparkled as he said it.

"Medic's dead. Move your ass or we're all gonna die, RIGHT HERE." Soldier yelled and with Scout's and Engineer's help they managed to get Heavy back on his legs and push him up the stairs of the little mill-like building they were in. At the top, where the mill would've normally had its turbine and blades, there was a large platform where Engineer had built a new sentry gun and a dispenser.

"We're gon' be a'right up o'er here," said the Texan. "Jus' keep watchin'. Last time I saw the dawg-gone man was when he was a-chasin' after Soldier o'er there, but he lost 'im."

"Hey, I can keep watch," said Scout, and sat on the very edge of the platform, his legs swinging down from the wood as he looked over the entire arena area and all of its buildings. Soon enough, Scout had spotted Hale – and Hale had spotted Scout. The young fighter jumped up and said, frightened, "Yo, he's incomin' again! How are we gonna defend?"

"Easy now, boys," said the Soldier, "the sentry will keep him at bay."

And so the four of them waited, very tensely, and finally they heard him climb up the staircase, every floorboard moaning under the pressure Hale's feet put onto it. Finally, he was in sight, and he'd heard the sentry gun beeping, so he was watching his step. Soldier fired a rocket to prompt him into moving, and show him that he can't hide forever. Finally, Saxton charged at them, and the Sentry aimed it's steady flow of bullets right at the Australian. They were slowing his charge down, but Saxton was still approaching them.

Suddenly, Heavy tossed Sasha aside – obviously cringing in pain because of doing so – and yelled, "Saxton – you are BIG BABY! You are DEAD! You kill – you kill my Medic! Run, coward!" And the big-headed Russian charged at Saxton Hale, headbutting him in the stomach as the Sentry stopped shooting, sensing an allied fighter in its range. Heavy flung the Australian at the wall and started punching him, making Hale see triple for a moment. However, he soon came back to his senses and pushed Heavy away, making him fall down the mighty, long staircase. Hale descended and jumped onto the Russian's leg, pulling with his arm, and finally ripping the entire limb off and showering them both with a fountain of blood. The Australian began smashing Heavy, using the Heavy's leg as a club.

Heavy protested and shouted, "This is _my_ leg, it belongs to HEAVY WEAPONS GUY!" and prepared a punch, using all the strength left in him, to deliver a powerful strike wherever he could reach – which, unfortunately for Saxton, was his manhood. Saxton bent over, writhing in pain, as Heavy delivered the blow and then fell to the floor, losing all of his blood. Hearing the sounds of the battle downstairs, Scout ran down to see the scene unfold, and heard Heavy say, "Scout, I see him – I see Medic, now we are together again…" Saxton Hale got up and finished off the Heavy before noticing Scout.

He took after him, running up the narrow staircase and reaching the top, where he bellowed with rage and was finally able to finish off the Engineer, his sentry, and the Soldier who had been protecting him. Saxton then stood on the platform and saw Scout running to the control point, where he would no doubt make a last stand against him.

As Hale approached the control point, he laughed, and roared, "Give it up, y'hippy. Ain't nothing to save you now! It's just the two of us… and you're about to go where the rest of your team had went."

"You sick, Australian bastard, you killed them, you killed them all!" Scout was holding back tears at the thought of losing all of his brothers. He pulled out his pistol and aimed at Saxton, but he was trembling far too much to shoot the enemy.

Saxton approached him, wounded very badly and bleeding all over, but not even ten yards away from him anymore, "Wait 'til you see what I've got in mind for you once I kill yer teeny body with the swipe of my BARE HAND! I will murder you, and then cut up your dead body – "

"_Non_," the RED spy appeared out of nowhere, and holding his knife up high he whispered into Hale's ear again, "_Non_, I think not." His knife came down onto Saxton's bare back, stabbing him three times, as the Australian helplessly fell over to the ground, grunting – "Saxton… Fail…"

"Indeed." said the new Spy, and looked at the pitiful Scout, who was only now fully understanding what had happened. He had lost everything – the only family he had left, the only friends he really had, and the only teammates he'd ever got along so fine with.  
>"Look, I'm sorry – " the Scout started.<p>

"Not now, Scout. 'Zis isn't 'ze time for you to be sorry. I should be sorry for not stepping out from 'ze shadows sooner. Forgive me, I was acting unprofessionally. Letting my anger take 'ze control of me, no?"

"You couldn't have changed anything, Spy."

"Bah, _oui_, I could. I could've struck at Saxton many times during 'ze game. Maybe, I could've even prevented some of your friends from dying. But I shall unfortunately admit to 'ze fact 'zat I did not. I am 'ze one who should be sorry, Scout."

"Can't turn back time. And I'm pretty sure they're happier where they are."

"_Oui_, Scout…" Spy slowly walked over to Scout, to place his arm around him and comfort the poor guy, still holding his dagger out, "I shall think you should like to join 'zem, _non_?"

"One day," said Scout.

"To-day," said Spy, and thrust the dagger into Scout's back. He lighted a cigarette, smoked it, and once finished, he flicked it onto the Scout's dead body and chuckled, while walking away, "I never really _was_ on your side," taking off his mask.


End file.
